U.S. home prices edge up in May: LPS

U.S. home prices edged up 0.9% from April to May, hitting an average price of $202,000, Lender Processing Services said in its latest Home Price Index report.

On a year-over-year basis, prices are up 0.4%.

The average price of $202,000 in May is up from $200,000 in April and $201,000 a year earlier. "For the year 2012 so far, U.S. home prices are up 3.2%," LPS said Friday.

The firm's study focuses on transactions that closed in the month of May across 15,500 different U.S. ZIP codes.

The states reporting the largest home price gains included Delaware (up 2.6%); Alaska (up 2.3%); Arizona (up 1.7%); North Carolina (up 1.6%) and Washington D.C. (up 1.5%). The states with the smallest home price increases for May included California (up 0.4%); Pennsylvania (up 0.4%), Florida (0.3%); and Ohio (up 0.1%).

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Kerri Ann Panchuk was the Online Editor of HousingWire.com, and regular contributor to HousingWire magazine. Kerri joined HousingWire as a Reporter in early 2011 and since earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University. She previously worked at the Dallas Business Journal.

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